Pen



March 4, 1952 H. KOCHENDOERFFER PEN ' Filed April 14, 1948 i INVENTOR.

HQP/WAW KOCf/f/VDOL'PFFi/P (J I g ATTOP/Vfy Patented Mar. 4, 1952 PEN Herman Kochendoerfier, New Rochelle, N. Y., assignor of one-third to M. G. Underhill, Tuckahoe, and one-third to Charles Sutherland,

Yonkers, N. Y.

Application April 14, 1948, Serial No.'20,97 3

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a pen.

Heretofore, almost all pens are believed to have been made with two prongs, terminating in writing points. A few have been made with three prongs for special lettering purposes. However, no pen has heretofore been made, so far as is known, that would write a thick line regardless of the direction in which the pen was moved. Furthermore, it is believed that no pen has heretofore been made with a single set of writing points that could be made to write selectively a thin or a thick line.

It is an object of this invention to make such pens. {The objects of the invention are accomplished, generally speaking, by the adoption of the conceptions hereinafter set forth with respect to particular embodiments of the invention.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a fountain pen equipped with a preferred form of the new pen.

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 1 showing one of the prongs in retracted position.

Fig. 5 is an inverted plan view of the pen with two points in writing position.

Fig. 6 is an inverted plan view of the pen with three points in writing position.

Fig. 7 is a side view of a preferred type of pen point being, however, without a slider.

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the pen shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 99 of Fig. 7 with the parts exaggerated in size. Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the action of the pen in different directions.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the numeral H indicates a fountain pen which may be presumed to be of any standard construction, except for the metal nib l2 which will hereinafter be called the pen. This pen is composed of a base portion l3, two prongs l4, 14 which are similar to the two prongs of an ordinary pen, and two writing points 15, I 5, which are similar to those on an ordinary pen. The two prongs l4, M are separated by a capillary groove l6 which terminates 1 in a hole II. The prongs l4, [4 have some flexibility. The base l3 of the pen has diverging side edges I8, I 8. A third prong 20 is attached to the base of the pen l2, for instance by welding or silver soldering, or in any other way found satisfactory, at a point indicated at 2| in Fig. 3. The rearward part of that prong is raised above the general level of the base 13 of pen I2 so that a small amount of space 22 exists between it and the pen. The point 22 of prong 20 is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 as being admitted between points l5, I5 of pen I2, as shown in Fig. 6. The prong 20 is biased downward so that it enters between the prongs l4, l4 when the latter are spread apart by pressure, thus furnishing a three-point writing surface as indicated in Fig. 6, In Fig. 6 the three .points are in a straight line and that pen will make a Wider line when drawn parallel to its length than when moved in any other direction. It is thus useful in making shaded signatures and in lettering.

When it is desired to write a fine line the prong 20 is lifted and the point 22 is removed from between the points l5, l5 which then returns to the relation shown in Fig. 5. In order to facilitate the removal of the intermediate prong, to maintain the fineness of the line drawn with two points, and if need be to increase the stiffness of those points and their resistance to pressure, a slider 30 is provided. This slider is represented as a thin band of metal having L hooked ends that engage beneath the ends l8 of the pen I2. In its fully retracted position, the slider 30 fits loosely inside the space 22 and offers no opposition to the entry of prong 20 between prongs l4. When it is desired to move the intermediate prong out of writing position, the slider 30 is moved forward as shown in Fig. 4, lifting the point 20 out from between points l5 and bearing with increasing pressure on the diverging edges l8, [B of the pen to insure the immediate return of those points to writing juxtaposition and if need be, to apply some pressure to them so that they will withstand greater writing pressure without separation.

In a modification of the invention the prong 20 can be biased upward and the slider 30 will then be placed outside the prong rather than under it so as to cam it into position.

In order to enable the slider 30 to be manipulated without inking the fingers, a push rod 35 is provided and extends backwardly through a slot 36. By moving the push rod the slider can be adjusted from the position of the grip.

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9 is shown a very important modification of the invention. In these figures the middle prong 40 has a point 4| that projects beyond the ends of points I5. In this form of the invention the pen has several points which are located at the apices of a geometrical figure. As shown, there are three prongs located at the apices of a triangle. When a line is drawn with such a pen, the result is as indicated in enlargement in Fig. 10, where the vertical and horizontal lines are of substantially equal width. No matter in what direction such a pen is moved a Wide line is produced, thus differing from the result produced by a pen having three points arranged in a straight line as shown in Fig. 6. It is believed that this conception marks a very material advance in pen construction.

In all the forms of the invention the intermediate prong when in operating position is separated from the adjacent prongs by capillary slits such as indicated at 44, 44 in Fig. 9. In that figure the intermediate prong 40 has a thin wedge 46 that enters between the outer prongs 41, 41 of the pen. In the form of the invention illustrated the points of the pen are oval and rounded, but any point construction that writes satisfactorily may be employed.

One advantage of the invention is in a pen point that writes a thick line in any direction.

Another advantage of the invention is a pen point that is useful to write either a broad or a fine line, selectively.

Another advantage is in the construction of the pen, which is simple and durable. The points may be used on fountain pens, as shown, and may be employed equally well for hand-fed or dipped pens.

Other advantages will be apparent to persons in the pen industry.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments.

What is claimed is:

1. A pen having three prongs terminating in writing points in juxtaposition, two of said points being in one general plane, one of said prongs being out of the general plane of the other two prongs, and being of such width that it may enter between the other two prongs, when they are spread apart, to form a third writing point, said other prongs being flexible to accommodate 4 the point of said one prong, and means to control the position of said one prong.

2. A pen having two points separated by a capillary slit and capable of being flexed apart, a third point overlying and biased toward said slit and of such width as to be admitted between said two points when they are flexed, the sides of said third point forming capillary slits with the sides of the said two points in the writing position of the third point.

3. A pen having a curved body with three prongs separated by capillary slits, and means to move the intermediate prong out of writing position and to move the remaining prongs into writing juxtaposition including a slider movable along the pen having a portion beneath the intermediate prong.

4. A fountain pen having a longitudinally extending nib comprising two laterally flexible points, means to flex the points to vary the width of the ink line made by the pen, and finger-operable control means, for manipulating said means to flex, extending beyond the nib along the barrel of the pen.

HERMAN KOCHENDOERFFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 87,661 Godspeed Mar. 9, 1869 333,104 Brandenburg Dec. 29, 1885 1,486,973 Lilly Mar. 18, 1924 1,746,065 Van Sant Feb. 4, 1930 1,800,425 Ashmore Apr. 14, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 6,549 Great Britain Jan. 25, 1834 114,801 Great Britain Apr. 18, 1918 586,917 Great Britain Apr. 8, 1947 

